Nana Akufo-Addo, President Kufuor’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced uncaringly and nonchalantly last week that between now and December 2006, President Kufuor will be travelling to Liberia, the USA (twice), Cuba, Rumania, China and Nigeria.

In Liberia, the President will be attending the inauguration of an electrification project. In the USA, he will be signing the Millennium Challenge Account on the first occasion and attending the 61st session of the UN General Assembly on the second occasion. In Cuba, he will be attending the 14th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.

In Rumania, he will be attending a meeting of Francophone countries. In China, he will be attending a China-Africa Cooperation Forum. And in Nigeria, he will be attending a summit co-hosted by Brazil and Nigeria.

By the end of this round of tours, President Kufuor would have visited Liberia 4 times, the USA 10 times, Cuba once, Rumania once, China twice and Nigeria 13 times since he assumed office on 7th January 2001.

Outside of these 6 countries, President Kufuor would have visited Cote d’Ivoire 8 times, Togo 11 times, Libya 4 times, South Africa 4 times, UK 9 times and France 4 times since he was elected into office.

The President would have travelled outside the country a total of 127 times by the end of the round of tours. He would have visited every continent on Planet Earth by December 2006, except Antarctica.

The role call of Kufuor’s Presidential trips overseas would be reading like this:

Africa ? Cote d’Ivoire (8 times), Togo (11 times), Nigeria (13 times), Burkina Faso (4 times), Benin (2 times) Libya (4 times), Morocco (2 times), South Africa (4 times), Zambia, Ethiopia (3 times), Senegal (6 times), The Gambia (2 times), Sierra Leone (2 times), Guinea, Niger (2 times), Mauritius, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sudan;

The Americas: USA (10 times), Canada, Jamaica, Brazil, Cuba.

Europe: Spain, France (4 times), Italy (2 times), UK (9 times), Malta, Switzerland, Germany;

Asia: Singapore, Malaysia, India, Japan (2 times), China, (2 times), Indonesia.

Australia: Australia, New Zealand.

Antarctica: Nil.

Even more bizarre have been the reasons for these Presidential trips. They have included the following:

- Togolese Coup d’Etat Anniversary

- Presidential Inaugurations

- Burning of surrendered arms and ammunition (Sierra Leone)

- Unveiling of Statue of retired General (Nigeria)

- Private Visits

- Opening of Trade Fair (Togo)

- Summit on Information Society (Switzerland)

- Address to Labour and Social Commission of AU (Benin)

- Official leave (UK, Morocco)

- Conference on Harnessing Science and Technology for Agricultural Productivity in sub-Saharan Africa (Burkina Faso)

- Funeral of President’s Brother (Togo)

- ALCOA Site Visits (Jamaica)

- 60th Anniversary of UNESCO (France)

- Address to International Cocoa Organisation (UK)

- Graduation of son from University (USA)

- Address at Opening Ceremony of Wilberforce Institute for the Study of Slavery and Emancipation (UK)

- Inauguration of Electrification Project (Liberia)

- Signing of Millennium Challenge Account (USA)

- Meeting of Francophone countries (France, Rumania)

These trips, and many more like them, were entirely unnecessary and avoidable trips, which would have saved the action a lot of expense.

We would like to begin by asking the question: Which of these countries? Heads of State have paid reciprocal visits to Ghana, and if they have, how many times have they done so? By constantly importuning visits from them or simply visiting their countries, do we not realise that we are boring them with our presence?

Then there are the Conferences and the Summits. President Kufuor has attended virtually every Summit of the ECOWAS, AU, Commonwealth, NAM and UN since he became Head of State. Only once did he allow Vice President Aliu Mahama to represent him at a meeting of the UN General Assembly. Yet for a Vice President to be able to ‘learn on the job’, he must be enabled to attend many more of these Conferences, especially in order also for him to establish the necessary relationships with other international personalities, particularly if there are any plans for such a Vice President to step into the shoes of the sitting President.

We are yet to hear of any President, who has monopolised International Conferences and Meetings as much as President Kufuor has done, creating the impression that either he has nothing to do in his own country or that somebody in his own country doesn’t want him to stay at home.

Next is the cost of the Presidential attendance at these Conferences and on these visits. If we put the all-inclusive cost of moving a President out of his country ? including Ministers, speech-writers, spokespersons, security, media, businessmen, ‘personal entertainers’ and hangers-on ? all at the conservative figure of US$200,000.00, the mathematics works out to US$25.4 million, which represents what President Kufuor’s overseas trips alone have cost Ghana.

But for us, our major concern is - who is advising the President to travel out of the country so often, and why does he have to travel out of the country so often? The impression a President who does not stay at home creates is that his advisers are not comfortable with his presence at home. And in the case of President Kufuor, his advisers appear to have legitimate reason for not wanting him to stay at home. He says all the wrong things at the wrong times to the wrong persons and audience, and the NPP has to spend time and effort and pay their spin doctors, serial callers and media collaborators to undertake expensive damage control exercises.

Just recollect the following damaging and compromising ‘faux pas’ of President Kufuor:

- He told a VOA interviewer that he had just been informed that Ghana had struck gas in commercial quantities in the Western Region. This turned out to be false.

- He said in an interview that Ghana’s GDP had reached US$600. This was false.

- He announced in 2002 that the Osagyefo Barge was to be moored at Efasu and used to generate power to augment the national grid. Four years later, this has not happened and his own Finance Minister has announced that the Barge is to be moved to Tema.

- He announced in 2001 that Job 600 was to be completed that year to be used by MPs. 5 years later, it has not been completed.

- He informed his Party faithful at a Cape Coast Congress that corruption is from Adam and that as President people send monies to him ‘waa waa waa’ on a daily basis but he masters courage to tell them to ‘go, come back later’. This was the high point of embarrassment of his Presidency and his then spokesperson, Kwabena Adjepong had to move from radio station to radio station to try to retrieve all copies of the tape-recording of the address. He did not succeed though.

- In answer to a question at a Press Conference, he stated that Asia and London are countries.

We could go on and on. There are embarrassments aplenty in Kufuor’s Presidential talk. So some smart aleck in his Government must have decided that he must be out of the country as often as possible. At least outside the country, when he messes up, it is only embarrassment that is caused. But inside the country, when he messes up, it is embarrassment plus loss of votes.

That must be the only reason why once a fortnight on the average, regularly, they pack him out of the country to go and mess up outside. And watching the glee with which Foreign Minister Nana Akufo-Addo announced President Kufuor’s extended tour of foreign countries between now and December, it is not difficult to guess whether he is or is part of the group that advises the President to travel so often and create the impression to his countrymen and women that his presence in the country is not really needed.